PHP URL decode GET

Question

I have been using URL decode on encoded URL variables from $_get.

The current problem I am facing is I have a URL encoded like this: blah.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fm.youtube.com%2F#/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zd7c5tQCs1I&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dzd7c5tQCs1I%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded

I'm not sure what kind of encoding this is, can someone help me? When I use just "urldecode" on this it just returns m.youtube.com

Edit: My problem is not that url decode isn't working, it works if I manually enter this encoded URL and use urldecode(), but when this encoded url is in the actual pages url and I use the _GET function then I try to decode it it stripes off everything after the "#" in the URL.

<?php print urldecode($_GET["url"]);?>

It returns

"http://m.youtube.com/"

instead of

"http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zd7c5tQCs1I&desktop_uri=/watch?v=zd7c5tQCs1I&feature=player_embedded"

I think the issue is that the pound sign is not encoded, if I refresh the page it strips away the pound sing and everything after it, so how do I get around this? Can I still retrieve the info from "GET" even though there is a pound sign? (#)

Alexandru · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-05 09:13:47Z

10

I read on php.net about urldecode function and they say that superglobal $_get is already decoded, ex: "The superglobals $_GET and $_REQUEST are already decoded. Using urldecode() on an element in $_GET or $_REQUEST could have unexpected and dangerous results."

answered Sep 5, 2013 at 9:13

Alexandru

3134 silver badges9 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

kanlukasz Over a year ago

That's true. Here is quote from PHP.net -

The superglobals $_GET and $_REQUEST are already decoded. Using urldecode() on an element in $_GET or $_REQUEST could have unexpected and dangerous results

(source: php.net/manual/en/function.urldecode.php)

T.Todua · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-26 16:34:16Z

The problem is that the full link has multiple = signs, and browser cant determine, that the other = signs refer just to the url= parameter. in your case, at first, you need to use function before link is given to url= parameter:

========================= 1) JAVASCRIPT ======================
<script type="text/javascript">
    var mylink = encodeURIComponent('http://testest.com/link.php?name=sta&car=saab');
    document.write("http://yoursite.com/url=" + mylink);
</script>


========================= 2)or PHP ===========================
<?php
    $mylink = 'http://testest.com/link.php?name=sta&car=saab';
    echo 'http://yoursite.com/url='.urlencode($mylink);
?>

so, your output (url parameter) will get like this

http://yoursite.com/url=http%3A%2F%2Ftest.com%2Flink.php%3Fname%3Dsta%

so, the url parameter will get the encoded url. after that, your .php file needs to decode that "url" parameter-

<?php
$varr = $_GET['url'];
$varr = preg_replace("/%u([0-9a-f]{3,4})/i","&#x\\1;",urldecode($varr)); 
$varr = html_entity_decode($varr,null,'UTF-8');
echo $varr;
?>

that will give you the correct value

user7282 · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-10 06:41:36Z

0

It is encoded into ASCII format .

see http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_urlencode.asp

answered Dec 10, 2012 at 6:41

user7282

5,1969 gold badges44 silver badges73 bronze badges

4 Comments

user7282 Over a year ago

@Charles php.net/urlencode does not mention about ASCII format, that's why i gave that link

Albert Renshaw Over a year ago

Thankyou for the answer! So ASCII format, is there a PHP function to decode this or do I have to build a quick engine filled with string replacing functions? :)

Albert Renshaw Over a year ago

It does when I just have the encoded URL as a string but for some reason when I have it in the URL bar and I use the _GET function it doesn't work. <?php print urldecode($_GET["url"]);?>

Albert Renshaw Over a year ago

The problem is the pound sign isn't encoded into the URL and I have no access to change the encoding of the URLs that they made, so how do I get around this?

Albert Renshaw · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-10 21:34:46Z

0

So here is the problem, the pound sign (#) (Hash) wasn't encoded... since I can't go back and re-encode it I have to use javascript (ex. alert(window.location.hash);) to send me the full URL after the hash then I append it to PHP's version of the URL, I THEN use a find and replace function in PHP to replace the "#" with "%23", then I use the urldecode method and it returns the full proper url decoded.

answered Dec 10, 2012 at 21:34

Albert Renshaw

17.9k21 gold badges114 silver badges201 bronze badges

Comments

René Höhle · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-10 23:58:15Z

0

This encoding is called percent encoding or URL encoding. You can use urldecode for decoding it. (Example: http://phpfiddle.org/lite/code/0nj-198 )

edited Dec 10, 2012 at 23:58

René Höhle

27.4k22 gold badges78 silver badges91 bronze badges

answered Dec 10, 2012 at 18:45

LiviuB

11 bronze badge

2 Comments

Albert Renshaw Over a year ago

This works in a string but when I have it in the url and I use the _get function it doesn't work. <?php print urldecode($_GET["url"]);?>

Albert Renshaw Over a year ago

The problem is the pound sign isn't encoded into the URL and I have no access to change the encoding of the URLs that they made, so how do I get around this?

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

PHP URL decode GET

5 Answers 5

1 Comment

Comments

4 Comments

Comments

2 Comments

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

5 Answers 5

1 Comment

Comments

4 Comments

Comments

2 Comments

Related